Nikolaj Vinicoff

I had a friend of mine in the area swing by and show me the rice paddy on a video call. Everything I planted seems to be growing fantastically, except for the rice. Either the birds got to it, the weeds overgrew it, or it was stuck for too long under the hot sun once the rainy season ended in November. Will be back soon and might post a little video to this thread.

Better hurry back then !

I wonder if anyone has experience in setting up a Permaculture Research Institute. Geoff Lawton says in one of his talks that he likes to set up a property as a research institute, also something about dividing his business into a non-profit, a not-for-profit, gaining advantages in taxes, funding, and probably others which I haven't mentioned. I am intrigued by the idea of setting up a research institute in Senegal where I own a couple of hectares of delicious land next to a mangrove and protected area, which could be an incredible place to teach from my own site!

Any feedback is welcome!

Before I left Senegal in August, I managed to plant about 30-40m2 of rice in my home rice paddy which soaks in all the runoff water from the road after it being channeled through swales. We're now in January! That's 5 months. I want to be back on site myself to harvest the rice, that was my whole point of planting it, but when will it be too late? Will it spoil?

Thanks for sharing this. I checked out the website, and judging by the photos (yes, I shouldn't judge), it looks like a hippie community more so than one of permaculture. Bill would always joke about being wary of hippies, ha ha... Anyhow, I'll keep up to date on their website for future events or gatherings.

Darren Robertson wrote:I have been around quite a bit. Funny I like Romania as well. But it takes awhile to buy land or form a company there. And the EU silliness.Plus wars in the direct neighborhood too.

We really loved the Philippines.But there government seems to vacillate hard between political extremes.

I will stick with Southern Georgia USA. Great easy to use Sandy loam. People are good and few. Bugs would be the main detractor. But something is always flowering here. Every month of the year.

Spain and Portugal are lovely, but in my opinion Portugal has an edge over Spain in the way people are. People seem more laid back, things seem less expensive, beaches more accessible, cities more vibrant. Climate can be a bit cooler in Portugal compared to southern Spain due to its exposure to the Atlantic Ocean, but it's definitely worth considering. I would consider Portugal instead of Spain if I could go back in time and start over again.

Hugo Morvan wrote:Hard to not get political about it. So just some snippets as i do get the sentiment. Happy to see Senegale are friendly. i've heard in Southern Italy they pay people in some villages to go and live there if that's hot enough for you. The southern Spain region around Malaga is very dry and has quite a lot of international Permaculture minded folk. Also in the mountains there. So you could check that out on your way to Africa.

This is where I am currently. Sadly I was not aware that there is a strong permaculture movement here! Any way you could put me in touch?

Nick Mick wrote:I have a first gen ‘09 Honda ridgeline and it is very reliable. I heard the second gen Honda crv is the best gen.

Honda Ridgeline is my dream car! Hard to find one here in Spain. Perhaps I could look in other EU countries and import

Dareios Alexandre wrote: So how long have you been living in Senegal for? What's the climate like there, are there any mountainous areas that have a cooler climate? Is it easy to buy land as a foreigner? What about visa situation and costs?

Dareios. First visited the country in early 2023, liked it a lot, and did a couple more trips, then I went all the way in late 2024. US citizens get charged more for their visa than EU citizens. In my case, I pay a couple bucks and get a stamp in my passport, then I'm good to stay in the country for 90 days. Then I cross the borders, pay a couple more bucks, get a couple more stamps, and the 90 days restart. There is a way to get a 'carte estranger' which I guess is like a national identification number or a residency, which eventually I'll do so as to avoid the 90 day border crossing, but for now it's working pretty well.

Senegal is wet/dry tropics, with wet season running from about July to September, extending a bit on either side, and the dry season October to June +/-. It's lovely there. I'll share a video below of my trip there so you can see the land I'm developing along with climate and landscape for yourself.



There are mountains in the far east of the country (near the borders of Guinea - I also go there in the video), although being tropical it does not get cool. You do get a drop in temperatures for a couple of months, and evenings throughout the year are very comfortable, although many days get very hot. Buying land was pretty straight forward, the only thing you must be wary of is that the person you're buying the land from actually owns it. As long as you take care and have some good people help you then you shouldn't have any issues. Cost of land varies, but you can find some very good prices if you look in the villages, and some of these aren't far from the sea. To give you an example, you may find areas where 10,000m2 (1Ha) costs 15,000€ or less.

Aaron Grim wrote: otherwise look into Costa Rica or maybe even Paraguay.

Paraguay has a great 0% Tax scheme